About Checking Your Credit Report

When you apply for a new credit card, loan or extension of credit, the potential lender will most likely check your credit report before making a decision. You should too. Check your credit report several weeks or even months prior to making a large credit purchase.

View your credit accounts and total debt — both existing balances and available limits.

Budget and plan for the future.

Ensure the accuracy of the information reported about your credit. This is especially important when you're getting ready to buy an expensive item such as a car or a new home.

Correcting Errors on Your Credit Report

Federal law allows consumers to challenge inaccuracies and correct their credit files, and Experian® encourages consumers to dispute any information they believe is incorrect. There is no fee. If you believe there is an error on your report, dispute it online for fast resolution. We will verify your dispute with the source of the data and receive a response within 30 days. Once we receive the response, Experian will send you the results of our investigation.

Qualifying for Discounted or Free Credit Reports

You may be eligible to receive a discounted or free credit report if you meet one of the following conditions:

Your request for credit, insurance, employment or rental housing was denied based on information received from Experian, and you contact us within 60 days of the denial.

"Adverse action" was taken against you based on information in your credit report (for example, your interest rate was raised or your credit limit was decreased). The name of the credit reporting agency that provided your credit report and how to contact the agency for a copy will be provided by the company that declined your credit application or took adverse action.

You reside in a state where laws require credit reporting agencies to provide their residents with a free or discounted report each year even if they are not denied credit.

You certify in writing that you are unemployed and seeking employment or receive public welfare assistance.

You have reason to believe your credit file contains inaccuracies resulting from fraud.

Fees

There is a nominal fee for additional reports if you already have received a free report under the FACT Act or do not meet the criteria for a free report, as described above. Some state laws provide free reports or reduced prices for their residents. Correct pricing for your state will be provided when you request your Experian credit report.

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Ad Targeting Policy

Effective Date: December 28, 2015

This Ad Targeting Policy supplements the Privacy Policy by describing how we use and share data for online targeted marketing purposes.

ConsumerInfo.com, Inc., an Experian® Company ("CIC"), which operates websites such as FreeCreditReport.com, ProtectMyId.com, and other websites we may add from time to time, may share information about you and other customers collectively, but not specifically identifiable to you with our parent company, our affiliated companies, and with third parties. This information includes:

Your inferred and expressed interests, including transactional information and product interests we derive from your visits to certain websites we operate.

This information that we share includes information that we have collected, together with data from Experian Marketing Services, one of the members of the Experian family of companies.

The recipients of this information use it to develop and deliver targeted advertising on our family of websites and on the websites of third parties. The information is used only for marketing purposes. It is not used to make targeted offers that are priced differently based on estimated purchase ability.

The targeted advertising resulting from this information sharing is related to common product and service categories, such as travel and leisure, automotive, retail, financial services, electronics, pharmaceutical and consumer products, publication subscriptions and similar categories that you see advertised routinely. These advertisements are not based on data relating to adult content, individual or aggregate health information or records, precise geographic location, information derived from your individual credit report (with the exception of Credit Based Offers that you authorize us to present to you as specified in the applicable Terms and Conditions agreed to on certain CIC websites), or information relating to your financial accounts. We use cookies to facilitate the sharing of this information while you are online. Information in these cookies is updated from time to time to ensure that it is up to date and relevant. In order to appropriately safeguard the information in them, as described above, these cookies are encrypted. At this time we do not respond to “do not track” browser signals.

If you prefer that we do not share this information, and would not like to receive targeted advertising as described above, please see our Opt Out page. Note that if you opt out, you will still receive advertising. Also, if you opt out and later delete your cookies, use a different browser, or buy a new computer, you will need to renew your opt out choice. If you would like to stop receiving Credit Based Offers as part of your enrollment in certain CIC products and services, please call Customer Care at 1-866-617-1894

The information contained in Ask Experian is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. You should consult your own attorney or seek specific advice from a legal professional regarding your particular situation. Please understand that Experian policies change over time. Posts reflect Experian policy at the time of writing. While maintained for your information, archived posts may not reflect current Experian policy. The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually. However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will include it in a future post.